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Cyber attacks can take many forms and be carried out using all sorts of technical methods and strategies. The most common form and active tool in the hands of attackers to carry out attacks with destructive consequences is a botnet.
The industrial and government sectors are the main targets for attacks by attackers.
This is not the first time that the sector has encountered such organized cyber attacks using botnets of varying sizes. However, their frequency and power are growing every year.
They are carried out by both individual attackers and entire hacker groups. In fact, according to the latest cybersecurity research, bot attacks have exploded in 2021 and continue to increase as the number of infected devices grows.
Contents
1. What is a botnet?
2. Why is this the main tool of scammers?
3. How attackers manage botnet attacks
4. The digital world of the future… is made for botnets
5. Strategies to combat botnets
6. Botfaqtor Bot Attack Cyber Defense System
A more detailed definition of the term "botnet" is as follows:
The original botnets were controlled via commands from a centralized IRC server. The command was executed in the form of a simple message. The limitation of the Internet Relay Chat botnet was that the entire botnet could be taken down by simply shutting down the IRC server. Hackers exploited vulnerabilities in IRC networks and developed bots to perform malicious actions such as stealing passwords, logging keystrokes, etc.
Another option is P2P botnets (from English "peer-to-peer", which translates as "point-to-point"), that is, decentralized networks. In this case, bots do not connect to the control center, but to several infected machines from the zombie network.
The attacker most often chose computers that lacked any protection in the form of a firewall and/or antivirus software as targets. The botnet operator could gain control of the device in various ways, most often by infecting the device with viruses or worms.
Cybersecurity expert Isa Oyekunle succinctly explains in his blog why bots and botnets are needed and how they are used in cyberattacks. He notes that cybercriminals use them to perform various tasks, including: gaining access to users' banking and personal data, disabling popular web services, extorting money - basically, anything that can bring in money.
In addition, attackers can sell databases of user logins and passwords obtained using botnets to other fraudsters, participate in cryptocurrency fraud, deploy and distribute malware, and much more. Among the attacks carried out by cybercriminals using botnets, the expert names phishing, spam, cryptocurrency fraud, espionage, DDoS, brute force attacks, etc.
Unfortunately, there are many tools available to hackers and online scammers that they can trade, sell, and rent out. These tools and botnets can be found on the Darknet and hacker forums.
Ad fraud, which also involves botnets, is another growing problem for digital businesses. In 2022, it cost advertisers $80 billion in losses. Fraudsters use bots to click ads, view ads, generate fake leads, fake sales, fake subscriptions, etc.
Now more about the stages:
The above is a standard three-step process modeled by cybersecurity experts. The experts also remind us that attackers can use both standard and advanced tactics to spread and grow a botnet.
Mirai was one of those botnets that used IoT devices for their attacks. These were any smart home appliances connected to the Internet that were infected with malware. Ordinary devices could participate in the attacks: kettles, refrigerators, digital routers, webcams and VCRs.
Botnet activity has dire consequences for devices connected to a single network. They are especially dangerous for networks whose vulnerabilities are not covered by security systems. It is through these “holes” that malware can leak in, infect devices and turn them into its “combat” units.
In 2018, as a result of one of the largest DDoS attacks, the software development platform GitHub became a victim of a botnet. The attackers managed to disable the resource.
Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning have made it easy for attackers to automate and quickly expand botnets to carry out large-scale cyberattacks. There is also a growing number of bot rental services used by cybercriminals for outsourcing. And while there are many variations of botnets, DDoS attacks are still considered the most common.
In an article published in the American Cybersecurity Magazine, small and medium business cybersecurity specialist Vinugayatri Chinnasamy suggests several ways to combat bots. These include:
For example, cybersecurity company HUMAN has had a number of successes in combating botnets in collaboration with law enforcement and industry. They used an aggressive, collaborative approach that used advanced signature and behavior recognition techniques, supported by intelligence hackers.
Decisions were made in real time, combined with technical parameter analysis and machine learning. This made it possible to quickly determine whether a site visitor was a bot or not.
By the way, the specialists of this company managed to destroy three botnets at once: in cooperation with Roku and Google - PARETO, which attacked CTV advertising; 3ve, when they had to team up with the FBI, Google, Facebook and many other industry representatives; and Methbot, whose creator, who proclaimed himself the "Russian king of digital fraud", was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Bots are used for everything from finding vulnerabilities in networks, stealing confidential information, taking over accounts, intercepting limited edition products (like Snickers), manipulating popularity, and multi-billion dollar ad fraud. Botnets have become a platform for cybercrime and are used by most digital criminals.
Defending against these types of attacks requires a different approach, one that is based on modern defense and a set of strategies that increase the cost of attack and decrease the cost of defense. This changes the course of the game and the balance of power for the better, allowing us to defeat the attackers. This is the only way to emerge victorious from this battle.
The industrial and government sectors are the main targets for attacks by attackers.
This is not the first time that the sector has encountered such organized cyber attacks using botnets of varying sizes. However, their frequency and power are growing every year.
They are carried out by both individual attackers and entire hacker groups. In fact, according to the latest cybersecurity research, bot attacks have exploded in 2021 and continue to increase as the number of infected devices grows.
Contents
1. What is a botnet?
2. Why is this the main tool of scammers?
3. How attackers manage botnet attacks
4. The digital world of the future… is made for botnets
5. Strategies to combat botnets
6. Botfaqtor Bot Attack Cyber Defense System
What is a botnet?
Let's remember what a botnet is. The word botnet (from the English botnet) consists of two words: robot and network. They are controlled by operators - bot masters. To create such a network, cybercriminals intentionally infect user devices with Trojans, worms and other malware, and then use them to carry out attacks.A more detailed definition of the term "botnet" is as follows:
The original botnets were controlled via commands from a centralized IRC server. The command was executed in the form of a simple message. The limitation of the Internet Relay Chat botnet was that the entire botnet could be taken down by simply shutting down the IRC server. Hackers exploited vulnerabilities in IRC networks and developed bots to perform malicious actions such as stealing passwords, logging keystrokes, etc.
Another option is P2P botnets (from English "peer-to-peer", which translates as "point-to-point"), that is, decentralized networks. In this case, bots do not connect to the control center, but to several infected machines from the zombie network.
The attacker most often chose computers that lacked any protection in the form of a firewall and/or antivirus software as targets. The botnet operator could gain control of the device in various ways, most often by infecting the device with viruses or worms.
Why is this the main tool of scammers?
Botnets are highly valued by hackers and cybercriminal groups because they help them carry out malicious activities online. For example, they can be used by hackers to carry out DDoS attacks, and by Internet scammers to send spam, engage in phishing, or click-through advertising.Cybersecurity expert Isa Oyekunle succinctly explains in his blog why bots and botnets are needed and how they are used in cyberattacks. He notes that cybercriminals use them to perform various tasks, including: gaining access to users' banking and personal data, disabling popular web services, extorting money - basically, anything that can bring in money.
In addition, attackers can sell databases of user logins and passwords obtained using botnets to other fraudsters, participate in cryptocurrency fraud, deploy and distribute malware, and much more. Among the attacks carried out by cybercriminals using botnets, the expert names phishing, spam, cryptocurrency fraud, espionage, DDoS, brute force attacks, etc.
Unfortunately, there are many tools available to hackers and online scammers that they can trade, sell, and rent out. These tools and botnets can be found on the Darknet and hacker forums.
Ad fraud, which also involves botnets, is another growing problem for digital businesses. In 2022, it cost advertisers $80 billion in losses. Fraudsters use bots to click ads, view ads, generate fake leads, fake sales, fake subscriptions, etc.
How Attackers Manage Botnet Attacks
Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike described three stages of botnet creation and deployment: 1) Deployment, 2) Infection and Scaling, and 3) Activation.Now more about the stages:
- At the first stage, the hacker looks for vulnerabilities in the system, on the website, in the application, on the user's device in order to infect them with malware. To infect a device, hackers look for "holes" in security systems. The "shepherd bot" does this covertly so as not to be noticed. The malware can be delivered to the victim's device in various ways: via email, by downloading from a disk (Drive-by), and other methods.
- The victim's device is then infected with malware. This happens by downloading a file with the "filling", opening attachments with malware in spam emails, through pop-up windows, exploit kits, etc. If it is a centralized botnet, the operator will direct the infected device to the C&C server. If it is a P2P network, peer-to-peer distribution will begin, and zombie devices will try to connect to other infected devices.
- Stage three. If the attacker has managed to infect a huge number of computers, i.e. to assemble an army of bots, he can begin to carry out attacks. The infected devices will receive tasks and the order of execution automatically from the C&C server. Then the bot will perform the specified malicious or fraudulent action in accordance with the order assigned to it. The operator can continue to remotely control and expand the botnet at any time.
The above is a standard three-step process modeled by cybersecurity experts. The experts also remind us that attackers can use both standard and advanced tactics to spread and grow a botnet.
The digital world of the future… is made for botnets
Over the past decade, the digital world has been rocked by cyber attacks orchestrated by botnets. Anyone interested in cybersecurity may have heard of the massive and sophisticated DDoS attack by the Mirai botnet in 2016.Mirai was one of those botnets that used IoT devices for their attacks. These were any smart home appliances connected to the Internet that were infected with malware. Ordinary devices could participate in the attacks: kettles, refrigerators, digital routers, webcams and VCRs.
Botnet activity has dire consequences for devices connected to a single network. They are especially dangerous for networks whose vulnerabilities are not covered by security systems. It is through these “holes” that malware can leak in, infect devices and turn them into its “combat” units.
In 2018, as a result of one of the largest DDoS attacks, the software development platform GitHub became a victim of a botnet. The attackers managed to disable the resource.
Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning have made it easy for attackers to automate and quickly expand botnets to carry out large-scale cyberattacks. There is also a growing number of bot rental services used by cybercriminals for outsourcing. And while there are many variations of botnets, DDoS attacks are still considered the most common.
Botnet Countermeasures Strategies
The bad news is that botnets are dangerous. The good news is that cyber defense systems are now available that can block bot attacks and mitigate the consequences.In an article published in the American Cybersecurity Magazine, small and medium business cybersecurity specialist Vinugayatri Chinnasamy suggests several ways to combat bots. These include:
- Bot traffic analysis. It is extremely important to analyze site or application visits for bot behavior. Real-time traffic analysis allows you to effectively detect botnet attacks. This approach evaluates each visit according to certain parameters. For example, the Botfaqtor service checks clicks on ads for 100 or more technical and behavioral parameters. It also uses an accumulated database and stop lists with previously blocked bots.
- Bot recognition. To block a robot, you need to recognize its essence. To do this, read information from its header and the web request stream using a firewall (for example, Web Application Firewall). If the system recognizes the visit as malicious, it immediately blocks it.
- Using a Bot Detector. Using bot detection tools such as CAPTCHA libraries, traps, and other methods allows you to create various practical tasks and tests that can stop a bot from malicious activity on a site. For example, when it comes to application or subscription forms.
For example, cybersecurity company HUMAN has had a number of successes in combating botnets in collaboration with law enforcement and industry. They used an aggressive, collaborative approach that used advanced signature and behavior recognition techniques, supported by intelligence hackers.
Decisions were made in real time, combined with technical parameter analysis and machine learning. This made it possible to quickly determine whether a site visitor was a bot or not.
By the way, the specialists of this company managed to destroy three botnets at once: in cooperation with Roku and Google - PARETO, which attacked CTV advertising; 3ve, when they had to team up with the FBI, Google, Facebook and many other industry representatives; and Methbot, whose creator, who proclaimed himself the "Russian king of digital fraud", was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Bots are used for everything from finding vulnerabilities in networks, stealing confidential information, taking over accounts, intercepting limited edition products (like Snickers), manipulating popularity, and multi-billion dollar ad fraud. Botnets have become a platform for cybercrime and are used by most digital criminals.
Defending against these types of attacks requires a different approach, one that is based on modern defense and a set of strategies that increase the cost of attack and decrease the cost of defense. This changes the course of the game and the balance of power for the better, allowing us to defeat the attackers. This is the only way to emerge victorious from this battle.
